Victorian Pennant decided

19 May 2014

The 2014 Pennant season came to a climax yesterday with some outstanding golf being played across multiple divisions at four host venues. Commonwealth and Gisborne Golf Clubs were just two of ten clubs to capitalise on their opportunity to win multiple flags with Commonwealth winning both the Men’s Division 1 and Colts Division 1, whilst Gisborne were victorious in securing the Men’s Division 4 and Women’s Division 5 flags.

The ladies from Metropolitan G.C were also a big story of the final day, winning back-to-back Women’s Division 1 titles and their 12th overall in club history. Facing the young line-up of Victoria G.C, the defending champions from Metro which included world no. 5 amateur Su-Hyun Oh and State Women’s Captain Jo Charlton displayed their class across the board, winning 6-1 over their gallant counterparts who fought hard all day and should again challenge in 2015.

For the Commonwealth Men, the Division 1 flag is their first since 2009 and 12th overall. Boasting extraordinary team depth including three State Men’s players that won the Interstate Series in Canberra a fortnight ago, Commonwealth, despite entering the contest undefeated were strongly tested by the Metropolitan Men who featured Australian no.1 amateur Todd Sinnott.

In its 115th Golf Victoria Pennant season that involved close to 800 players, 24 out of the 46 competing clubs were represented in finals across six Men’s divisions, five Women’s divisions and six Colts divisions. As part of Golf Victoria’s ongoing policy of simultaneously staging Men’s, Women’s and Colts finals, contests were played at four host venues in Kingston Heath, Woodlands, Green Acres and Rosanna Golf Clubs.

Selected results

Division 1 Men – played at Kingston Heath

Commonwealth (4.5) def. Metropolitan (2.5)

Playing in match 3, 2013 Victorian Amateur Champion Zach Murray was the first player to give Commonwealth a point with a commanding 8&6 victory over Metropolitan’s Blake Collyer. Metro hit back though with wins coming in the way of matches 5 and 6 thanks to a Matt Roberson 3&2 win over Matthew Hinkley and Sean Smith 2&1 win over Gary Sluce. With a 2-1 lead, the contest’s 7th match between Doug Francis (Metro) and Tom Couling (Commonwealth) couldn’t be decided within 18 holes as they headed back to the first tee in a playoff. Luckily for Commonwealth, this crucial match was won by Couling to bring the score back to square. It was then Commonwealth’s Frazer Droop’s time to shine, making a birdie on the 17th to go 1up and making par on the 18th to secure his team’s third win. Needing one of the remaining two matches and with Sinnott having the upper hand on Geoff Drakeford in match 1, Lucas Herbert was able to secure victory for Commonwealth with a 2&1 victory over Lukas Michel. With the contest’s result concluded, Sinnott and Drakeford squared their match.

Division 2 Men – played at Woodlands

Sanctuary Lakes (6.0) def. Kingston Heath (1.0) Entering the final with a 6-1 regular season record, Sanctuary Lakes proved to be too strong for their opponents from Kingston Heath. No.7 Marcus Gill (Sanctuary Lakes) got his team off to a flying start with a 5&4 win which were followed up by 2&1 wins from teammates James Cooper (No.5) and Brent O’Donoghue (No.4). It took two additional holes to decide the outcome of match 6 between Mark Grimsditch and Andy Pertama who fought back hard to square the match on the 18th but it was Grimsditch that prevailed in the playoff, earning Sanctuary Lakes their fourth win and the sealer. Robert Hammer (No.2) was Kingston Heath’s sole victor with a convincing 6&4 win over Travis Sharpe. Whilst Sanctuary Lakes’ no.3 Charles Wright and Jordan Cooper rounded out the team’s margin with a 3&2 victory over Greg King and a 1up victory over Michael Cocking respectively.

Division 1 Women – played at Kingston Heath

Metropolitan (6.0) def. Victoria (1.0)Looking for back-to-back titles, Metro had a great start to the final including no.1 Su-Hyun Oh and no.2 Jo Charlton taking early command, 4up through just six holes in their match-ups. To the credit of opposing youngsters from Victoria playing in the top two matches, Kono Matsumoto and Olivia Kline clawed their way back into the contests but would eventually fall 4&3 and 2&1 respectively. Playing at no.7 for Metro, Tomi Crewes enjoyed a 4&3 win over Anna Gavardinas whilst teammate Gillian Ednie proved too much for Lillie Callow 5&4. Victoria’s Sue Wooster was her team’s best performer with a 4&3 victory over Grace Daniell whilst Metro’s final two wins came from Siobhan Anderson (2up over Evelyn Clark) and Michelle Hui (4&2 over Simone Thompson) who hit a hot streak through holes 14-16 including a near ace on the par 3 15th.

Division 2 Women – played at Woodlands

Long Island (4.0) def. Kingswood (3.0) Playing in their final Pennant match under the sole name ‘Kingswood’, the Division 2 match-up against Long Island was a close encounter but three early wins by Long Island trio Jo Mazzoletti (6&5 over Danielle Hu), Janie Field (4&2 over Johanna Wyllie) and Bianca Saunders (4&2 over Karen Wigg) from matches 7, 5 and 4 put the pressure on the top end for Kingswood. Despite wins from Kingswood’s’ Steffie Vogel (2up over Sarah Herd) and Georgia Macklan (1up over Jaydon Vaenuku), Long Island only needed one of the remaining two points and it came from no.2 Sam Couper who defeated Alexandra Hilliard 2&1. Match 1 was won by Kingswood’s Soo Bin Park 4&3 over 2013 Victorian Junior Masters Champion Montana Strauss.

Division 3 Women – played at Rosanna

Sunshine (4.0) def. Medway (3.0)Despite Medway’s numbers 1 and 2 both recording convincing 6&5 wins, it was Sunshine’s lower order that were able to manufacturer a positive outcome to their final at Rosanna G.C. Sunshine’s no.7 Nasya Sohail def. Jo Dempsey 3&2, no.6 Chelsea Wearne def. Jenny Cooper 5&4 and no.5 Jenna Harding def. Stephanie Theodore 5&3. Also convincing in victory was Sunshine’s Katherine Bunting with a 6&5 win to seal the contest. Medway’s Joelynn Do was victorious in match 4 against Melissa Delibasic 1up whilst it was teammates Stephanie Bunque and Wendy Tottenham that enjoyed match 1 and 2 wins over Tahlia Holmberg and Stephanie Wearne respectively.